1890–1980

Heinsberg gained its first railway connection in 1890 with the construction of the Heinsberger Bahn (Heinsberg Railway), also called Wurmtalbahn (Wurm Valley Railway).^[5] After long consideration of the possibilities for extending the railway, the station was built as a terminus. The entrance building was then located on the area that is between the current bus station and medical centre. It was almost identical with that of the neighbouring Dremmen station, but the signal box was in the entrance building and not in a glass annex, as in Dremmen. There were two waiting rooms in Heinsberg. A freight-handling facility was established directly next to the reception building with its own loading track.

The station was destroyed in the Second World War. The remains of the entrance building were demolished and were never rebuilt, instead a wood shed was built as a temporary station. The rail tracks were rebuilt by volunteers.

A new entrance building was opened in 1951 with a separate freight area to its south. On the tracks and the platform there was a glass annex, similar to at the Dremmen station. This contained a signal box and the ticket office. All part of the platform were covered. There was also a canopy over the entrance from the street. Passenger traffic was handled on only one track and the remaining tracks were used for freight and sidings to the timber yard and the gas works. The passenger traffic was abandoned in 1980. A few years later, the entrance building was demolished to make way for a new bus station. The track layout was partly demolished to make room for the Heinsberg-Galerie.

Since 2010

Heinsberg was originally intended to be reopened for rail traffic in 2008, but due to reductions in subsidies, the reactivation of the railway line was delayed, so that the reactivation was then due in 2012.^[6] In October 2011, the first edition of the West-Express, a publication of the infrastructure manager Rurtalbahn, announced that a Park and Ride facility would be built in Heinsberg. The journey time from Lindern to Heinsberg, including stops, would be 17 minutes.

The Heinsberg–Oberbruch section was cleared in the spring of 2010. The Zug der Erinnerung ("train of memory", a memorial to children deported by train as part of the Holocaust) was able to run over the line to the Heinsberg Kreishaus (district house) in the same spring. With the clearance of the tracks of this section, their bad condition became clear. Above all, it was impossible to run over the points in the Heinsberg station area.

In June 2012, the old railway tracks were removed at Heinsberg station, the remains of the loading ramp and the remaining foundations of the freight-handling facility were demolished and a new level area was created. The new railway tracks, platform and car park were built on the levelled area.

The car park, the platform and the platform canopy were largely finished in July 2013. To ensure that the traffic to the station does not have to pass through the town centre, the parking lot is only accessible by car via an access road from Industriestrasse.

Since 15 December 2013, the Rhein-Niers-Bahn has run from Heinsberg towards Aachen Hauptbahnhof hourly. The trains are coupled or split in portions at Lindern station.^[7][8]